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Misuzu Shōkai
See also Misuzu Kōgaku Kōgyō (三鈴光学工業), a camera maker which was certainly unrelated. Misuzu Shōkai (i.e. Misuzu Trading Company) was a Japanese distributor, based in Tokyo, Ginza, Its address from 1939 to 1944 was Tōkyō-shi Kyōbashi-ku Ginza 8-chōme (東京市京橋区銀座八丁目). Source: advertisements reproduced in , pp.96 and 102. from 1922 to the mid 2000s. History The company was founded on June 1st, 1922 as simply Misuzu Shōkai (美篶商会). It was selling field and studio cameras in the 1920s (see below), as well as other photographic supplies. It used the brand name CH for various products in the 1920s and 1930s. The company became K.K. Misuzu Shōkai ( 美篶商会) on May 16th, 1936. Chronology of the Misuzu official website (web archive version Sep 24, 2004). In Spring 1937, it introduced the Midget, Japan's first successful subminiature camera. The company sold other cameras under its own brands, and distributed cameras until 1944; at that date, it had shops in Tōkyō, Nagoya, Sapporo, Ōsaka, Kyūshū and Seoul. Advertisement on the back cover of , February 15, 1944, reproduced on p.78 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku. After World War II, Misuzu advertised cameras again from about 1947 to the early 1950s. On June 24th, 1965, it changed its name again to Misuzu Shōkai K.K. (美スズ商会 , abandoning the kanji character, whose reading is hard to guess). Chronology of the Misuzu official website (web archive version Sep 24, 2004). The company was still in existence in 2004. Cameras sold by Misuzu Shōkai under its own name * CH camera, strut folder for Sweet-size plates (about 4×5cm) * Lomax and Eaton (6.5×9, early 1930s) * Romax plate folder (6.5×9, c.1934) * Vest Alex (4×6.5, 1936–8), later sold by Riken as the Vest Olympic * Midget (1937) * New Midget (1939) * New Midget II (1940, again c.1947) * New Midget III (1951) * Andes Four (4×4, 1941) * Semi Lead (4.5×6 folder, 1941–4) The website of the company said that the Midget was made by Misuzu itself. Midget page of the Misuzu official website (web archive version Sep 24, 2004). Other cameras sold by Misuzu Shōkai As a distributor * Well Standard and Well Super by Nippon Kōki * Semi Leotax by Shōwa Kōgaku (prewar and wartime period) * Baby Leotax by Shōwa Kōgaku * Alpenflex by Hachiyō Kōgaku Kōgyō As an authorized dealer * Vester Klapp by Ginrei * Speed Pocket by Kuribayashi * Olympus Standard and Semi Olympus II by Takachiho * Tsubasa Chrome, Tsubasa Spring and Tsubasa Super Semi by Kigawa * Romax (6×6) * Baron Six by Chūō Seiki * Shinkoh Rabbit by Tougodo (Yamanashi) Field and studio cameras Misuzu Shōkai advertised field and studio cameras in the 1920s and 1930s. The advertisement in the November 1924 issue of lists two different studio cameras in format (25.4×30.5cm). Advertisement in November 1924, no page number. The less expensive one, at , has four standing legs and is pictured in the advertisement. The more expensive one, at , has two standing legs. The latter probably corresponds to the Misuzu studio camera model A (ミスズ写場用暗函A號) pictured in the December 1926 advertisement in . Advertisement in December 1926, no page number. The February and November 1927 advertisements in the same magazine show the four-legged model again, called Misuzu model D (ミスズD號) and the Jupiter (ジュピター號) field camera. Advertisements in February and November 1927, no page numbers. The March 1928 advertisement in shows the Jupiter and the Misuzu model A. Advertisement in March 1928, no page number. As of 1936, Misuzu Shōkai was advertising smaller -size field cameras under the CH brand, notably shown in the April 1936 advertisement in , reproduced below. Advertisement in April 1936, p.A103. They were available with either double or triple extension bellows, respectively priced at and , including three plate holders and a tripod. Accessories sold under the CH brand This list is certainly incomplete: * CH accessory rangefinder Item observed in an online auction. * CH self-timer * CH flashguns Advertisement in December 1936, p.A107. * CH tripods Column in October 1936, p.685. * CH darkroom accessories * CH enlargers, sold with Heliostar 75mm f/6.3, Column in October 1936, p.686. 105mm f/6.3, Item observed in an online auction. or Oscar Anastigmat f/5.6 lenses * CH Apollo enlarger, sold with Spender Name inferred from the katakana スペンダー (supendā). Anastigmat 75mm or 105mm f/4.5 lenses Advertisement in September 1937, p.A128. The CH brand was also used on a few cameras (see above). Other advertisements Notes Bibliography * . Advertisements by Misuzu Shōkai (no page numbers): ** November 1924; ** December 1926; ** February 1927; ** November 1927. * . Advertisements by Misuzu Shōkai: ** March 1928, p.A39; ** February 1930, pp.A2 and A41; ** June 1932, pp.A2 and A45; ** January 1936, p.A2; ** February 1936, p.A2; ** April 1936, pp.A2 and A103; ** July 1936, p.A103; ** November 1936, p.A103; ** December 1936, p.A107; ** September 1937, p.A123. * October 1936. "Atarashii kikai to zairyō" (新しい機械と材料, New equipment and machinery). Pp.685–6. * * Advertisement on p.78, corresponding to the back cover of the February 15, 1944 issue. Links In Japanese: * A web archive version (Sep 24, 2004) of the Misuzu Shōkai corporate site, which is now dead. There is a company presentation, with a chronology and the history of Misuzu's name, and a page presenting a Midget camera. (If the text is garbled rather than Japanese, switch the encoding to Shift-JIS.) Category: Japanese camera makers Category: Japanese distributors